Shoulder pad



May 19, 1953 w. RIELER l-:TAL 2,638,603

SHOULDER PAD Filed March 5, 1949 IN VEN TORS D sulla# MKM HTTNEYS Patented May 19, 1953 Claims. i"

This'invention` relates'l to a` structurally'- and; functionally improved shoulder'pad for garments` and especially' lad-ies garments' andl dresses in' which no linings may bef present.

It is'an` object oiNtl'xe'inventionk to" furnish' a unit' of' this type which' willi becompletein it'- sel and' may accordingly' beapplied to' impart to'theshoulderportion..off a' garment, the; desiredA iinishedcontour'y Without" it being' necessary` to employ a sleeve head' or any" other auxiliaryorf supplementary structure'tov complete* the contouring' off the' same ati the' shoulder:

A" further object` isV that'y of* furnishing' a shoulder-pad' which will` not incorporate, in` its underface; arr undesiredl and"4 slack structure; Rather the' several' layersofA the' unitwill` be intimately: associatedy with' each' other in a man'- ne'r' such that; relative' movements' will"y not oc:-

cur'.`

An additional object isthat'ofprovidinga de'- viceof' this type which mayA be economically manufactured" by` quantity production`l methods' andl by relatively' unskilled* labor;` the: pad being capablel of' ready: application' toA a' garment' and; maintaining'v its" Shape as'. Weil'v as'4 the shape.'v of' they` garmentv` even when" subjectedto' repeated: cleaning' operations:

With' theseA and* other' obj ects' in mind; refer;- ence is had to the-'attached4 sheet'of drawings illustrating` one practical4 embodiment' ofI the invention; and: in' which.

Fig; 1A is: a' perspective" View of the^ improved' shoulder pad' Fig: 2*- is asectional side View' thereof` taken-'- along' the lines 2"-2"V and inthe' direction' of the arrowsas'V indicated imFig. 1";v

Fig'. 3 'isga' transversesectonall view'taken along' tlie'lnes" 32-3 and" intheJ directionb off the arrows' as indicated' int Fig. 2`;

Fig; 4 shows" tlle` several" units or'layerswlich' frmithe, pad separated fromn eachl other;V

Fig.' 5' is. a` plan" View' of"`anassembly' prior to' the' shaping" operation; and

Fig: Gisa transverse-sectional'view'taken al'ong tlieelines` 6 6 and' in` theedii'ect'i'on off the an-4 rows?` as indicated-L inf Fig. 5i

Attention. beingfprimarilyfinvted to Fig; 4'; iti, yv'ill'ybe'` seen thatAv the; pads preferably` embraces' merely; three maj or portions These include. the form-imparting element'l lilgazrigidifyingielement: orfsheet'. I-l and' arcoyeringlayerf |21. Eementsflll andi H" may; be formed oi any),desiredviiberrsuch'.P asfwood, Woolvvcotton, raypng.,A etc. Thaiibers; of; element Irl.` may be relatively-'compacted tofiur.A

nish. a, comparatively. stii orvr rigid.. sheet. The.I

fibers of element l0 are comparatively loose so as't'o provide'a' yielding body portion: The-covening' l2" may" conveniently' be' formedx offV rayonvv or similar cloth andbe-enti'rely' iiexible.- It is preferably;hovvevengcutl on'- the bias so that'itslines` of weave extend angularly bothl with re n spect to thev longitudinal' andi transverseaxesl off the garmenti Element H has what mightv be termed a' notched basee'dge t3: its'opposite edgesl llbeV ing' somewhat curvedi The area offelement Ifl. is slightly in excess of tlie maximum' areav de-n fined by tlfle'ed'ges-of` element' lo; eXc'eptihg'only for'thenotch i3. The'outlines maybe-'substantially 'identical and' againY excepting only' for thel notched portion' of elementl El. The edge of'v element' IU' is bevelled= oir-reduced'u yas indicated; at" lo'. Again'` it' s'- preferred'A that this' bevelling; be', notv` extended'- throughv totne'- lower edge of` element' lil.' Rather itshould" terminateshortof"same'to'provide a verticaledgeportion" i6.

In providing the unit, theA materiall sheet l@ is'placedf upon' ay supporting surface; The rigidifying sheet or element- Il` is superposed on 'the sheet l2y andI to -v one* side' off the center off the f seam asindi'cated in dashv an'ddot-lines on the face of' sheet 12in Fig. 4f. Int turn superposed upon'element llis'elem'ent lil? Thereupomsheet IZis foldedupon' itselfE as: in Figs.- 5 and'. 6;r TheV assembly is' maintained in= position preferably by' employing" a` stapleJ llf or any equivalent: unit -ex'- tending through enough ofi the-layersto-anchor= theme At this=` time itl willl be understood that While in' certain instances the adjacent' faces of" elements IW andl Il* might. havelapplied tothem a suitable"adhesiveandA other-'faces oftlieassembly' might` be like-WiseI treated, it'. has been found'in practice that thisfcoatingofi thelpart's is" unnecessary', and in certa'ininstances, objectionablez.

Therefore,` ordinarily; the assembly as illus-- trated'in Figs: 5-andf6 -will` be directly' transferred' to an apparatuswhich includes-'- cooperating molds between' which the` assembly is disposed' These molds will loe-capable vof exertingI substantial'A pressurei and' heat. They' Will'Z beI contour-edf so that? the' initially'` substantially straight; edge of element l 0.. vvillA haveV al curvatura. imparted;r to. itT as'findicatevziatv |81 in Fig, Theelementi. Hl, thus'. subjected to=molding; hasitszstraight edge impressed; into;l the,`v cut-away notch i3;LA of.v the stiffening` element I'l. The edge of` the padding material; which is pressed: into` the. cutrawayi. notchprovides,VV at leastv in.. part, thecuryature I 8.0i. therpaddng element, Ill.- This curvededge portionisof courseinaddition to the transverse curvature which is imparted to the several components of the pad by the molding and as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The amount of material of the padding element I Il which is molded into the cut-away notch I3 is tapered in accordance with the curved shape of the cut-away notch i3. A lip 2| is formed by the material which is turned over the notched base edge I3 of the stiffening element II. The center of the lip 2| embodies the greatest amount of material as it ts into the cut-away portion of the element II. The quantity of material of the lip 2l which ts into the notch I3 tapers off from the center toward the sides as a consequence of the narrowing of the cut-'away area.

The shoulder pad has an outer peripheral edge formed by the fold of the covering layer I2. This outer peripheral edge with its transverse curvature is designed to t the shoulder pad to the arm hole of a garment. The shoulder pad when tted in a garment is xed with its inner apex titled upward as it follows the normal shoulder line of the garment and the wearer. As a consequence of this tilting of the shoulder pad, the arm hole of the garment described a plane which is not perpendicular to the axis of the transverse curvature of the shoulder pad. Line A-A shows the axis of the transverse curvature of the shoulder pad. Line B-B is a perpendicular to the axis A,-A. The outer peripheral edge of the shoulder pad is nonperpendicular to the axis AA.

The lip 2I is formed into the cut-away portion of the notch I3. The middle of the shoulder pad is curved inward and conforms to the arm hole of a garment because of the greater amount of the padding element I folded into the cutaway portion at the center of the pad. Thus, the outer peripheral edge of the shoulder pad ts around the arm hole of a garment while the inner apex of the pad fits t0 the shoulder portion of the garment.

With the pad removed from the mold, it will now be Vapplied to, for example, a sewing machine which will incorporate two lines of stitches I9 in the pad. These rows of stitches will pass through the covering sheet I2 and the adjacent edge portions of elements I0 and II. They will obviously serve to permanently retain the several parts of the pad against movement. Thereafter, the staple or other securing element may be removed if desired.

Simultaneously with the stitching operation, the exposed edges of sheet I2 may be notched or pinked in order to prevent an unravelling of the same. This has been indicated at 20.

With layer I2 cut on the bias, it is found that with the establishment of the rows of stitches, parts of the pad are placed under a slight degree of tension. No bagging 0n the underface of the pad will occur; this being partially attributable to the fact that the body of element I0 extends somewhat downwardly within and beyond the edge of notch I3 incident to the molding operation and as indicated in Fig. 2. As a consequence of this construction, no central line or lines of stitching are necessary and a more desirably contoured pad is provided.

As especially indicated in Fig. 3, the pad when viewed from the edges presents a body which is preferably shorter in front and longer in back. In other words, it is frequently desirable in order to properly drape and contour a garment to have the pad extend forwardly of the shoulder only a relatively short distance although lit should extend to the rear of the shoulder a greater distance. By the construction suggested in Fig. 3 this result is achieved. Also it will be understood that while in many respects it is preferred the pad include a. supporting as well as a cushioning element, only a single element need, in certain instances, be employed within the covering sheet. Under other conditions a number of layers greater than that illustrated might be utilized.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically aforenoted are achieved.

Obviously numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as dened by the claims.

We claim:

l. A shoulder pad including in combination a covering sheet of flexible material of substantially rectangular outline, a supporting element of relatively rigid material, a cushioning element of relatively resilient material, said flexible sheet being folded substantially centrally upon itself along a line extending from one to another diametrically disposed corner to envelope said elements with the supporting element disposed below said cushioning element and a concave curved edge of said rigid element presenting a recessed edge portion of said element; the adjacent body of said cushioning element being permanently distorted and maintained within such recessed edge portion.

2. A method of forming a shoulder pad which includes the utilization of an outer substantially rectangular sheet of flexible material having warp and Woof threads extending on the bias and a cushioning element of relatively resilient material of substantially triangular outline and a layer of relatively rigid material of substantially triangular outline having one recessed edge, arranging said cushioning element on said rigid material, forming in a curve a portion of said cushioning element over the recessed edge of said rigid element, arranging said cushioning element and said rigid element with said recessed edge along the center line of said outer sheet, folding said outer sheet along the center line, and fastening the folded edges of said outer sheet together with said portion of said cushioning element curved over said recessed edge.

3. A shoulder pad including in combination a substantially rectangular sheet of flexible material having warp and woof threads extending on the bias, a layer of relatively rigid material providing a strengthening element, a cushioning element comprising a layer of relatively resilient material having substantially triangular outline, the outline of said strengthening element being also substantially triangular, said flexible sheet being folded upon itself to envelop such elements and being disposed in face-to-face contact with the same, said elements and said sheet being permanently curved in both longitudinal and transverse directions and the edges of the sheet being maintained in face-to-face contact to provide a permanent enclosure for said elements, a concave edge of said strengthening element providing a recess adjacent said strengthening element, and adjacent portions of the body of the resilient element extending into the said recess adjacent said strenghtening element.

4. A method of forming a shoulder pad which includes the utilization of a sheet of flexible material and a, cushioning element of relative resilient material of substantially triangular outline and a layer of relatively rigid material of substantially triangular outline having one recessed edge, arranging said cushioning element on said rigidl material, arranging said cushioning element and said rigid element with said recessed edge along the center line of said outer sheet, folding said outer sheet along the center line thereof, molding said assembled elements under heat and pressure, folding a lip of said cushioning element in a tapered indentation in the recessed edge of said rigid element under said molding pressure to form the lip in a tapered shape with its greatest bulk at the center, and imparting a transverse curvature to said assembled elements including said tapered lip.

5. A shoulder pad including in combination a substantially rectangular sheet of exible material, a layer of relatively rigid material providing a strengthening element, a cushioning element comprising a layer of relatively resilient material having a substantially triangular outline, a concave edge forming an indentation in one side of said strengthening element, the flexible sheet being folded upon itself to envelop such elements along a line determined by the outer ends of said concave edge, and a lip of said cushioning element folded over said concave edge to generally conform said cushioning element to said concave edge so constructed and arranged that said lip portion is tapered in shape to conform to said concave edge and is tapered in cross section on both sides and is curved down- Ward over said concave edge to conform said cushioning element and said folded sheet to the contour of said concave edge.

WALTER RIEDLER. BERTHOLD MECHUR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 359,441 Goldman Mar. 15, 1687 2,329,496 Walcoi Sept. 14, 1943 2,395,024 Tangorra Feb. 19, 1946 2,402,292 Nichols June 18, 1946 2,424,482 Mechur et al. July 22, 1947 2,424,662 Lavn July 29, 1947 2,431,616 Le Nov. 25, 1947 2,459,489 Bloom Jan. 18, 1949 2,492,890 Sameth Dec. 27, 1949 

